The ancient Chinese game of Weiqi is probably better known in the Western world by its Japanese name, Go (Baduk in Korean). Go is a two-player strategy game where players, playing as black or white, take turns placing stones on a grid to claim territory and surround their opponent’s stones, not by attacking one piece at a time but by slowly building influence across the whole board.
Go is simple to learn but very deep, rewarding patience, foresight, and adaptability more than quick tactics or brute force.
In the world of go, there is an old proverb, “Lose Your First 50 Games As Quickly As Possible“. In other words, if you humbly acknowledge how little you know and allow yourself to make many mistakes in a short period of time, you will accumulate fundamental lessons more quickly and then be able to truly enjoy the game.
I have personally avoided playing chess with others because I usually lose and I don’t like the feeling of losing. As a result, I have remained a poor chess player for my entire life. What could I have done to have a different outcome? Two things, apparently. Solve chess puzzles daily and play often. In other words, keep losing until I learn all the primary mistakes I make and develop solutions for them.
Think about it. Is there a project you are putting off because of fear? Is fear of failure leading you to procrastinate and focus on life’s distractions like scrolling social media or playing hours of mobile games instead of doing the work you know you should be doing?
Sometimes, simply identifying and naming a fear is enough to help us overcome it. It is a critical life error to let fear of failure hold you back. Failure is your friend. Accept it. Embrace it. Failure will make you stronger, not weaker.
Want More?
In my post, Embrace Failure, I dig a little more deeply into this mindset. Check it out.
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* Header image: Go board, at a Go-weekend, Hoge Rielen, Belgium, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
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